Fuel injection system

Abstract: A solenoid valve unit is provided in the middle of the fuel supply path that leads to the compression space in the injection pump main body and the fuel injection quantity is adjusted through open/close control of the solenoid valve unit. In this fuel injection system, the plug valve is moved until it is seated on the valve seat during the preliminary injection that is performed prior to the main injection. A means for leaking the fuel from within the compression space is provided in the injection pump main body and the time period during which the fuel in the compression space is leaked via the means for leaking and the time period during which the fuel supply path is restricted with the plug valve being seated on the valve seat are combined to stabilize the movement of the plug valve. Consequently, an optimal small quantity is achieved for the preliminary injection that is nearly constant regardless of the rate of rotation of the engine. Also, if a drive pulse that closes the fuel supply path over the period during which the fuel is leaked is supplied to the solenoid valve unit, the solenoid valve unit needs to be operated only once and stable injection characteristics are achieved from the pilot injection through the main injection.

Description: The present invention relates to a fuel injection system in which a solenoid valve is provided in the middle of the fuel supply path leading to the compression space of the injection pump main body so that fuel injection to the engine is controlled by opening and closing the fuel supply path with this solenoid valve. Fuel injection pumps of this type in the known art include, for example, an invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 1-151751 in which a pilot injection is implemented prior to the main injection. In order to achieve the main injection and a pilot injection preceding the main injection, a solenoid valve is driven twice during the compression feed process. To explain this by referring to the characteristics chart shown in Figure 7 of the drawings, the drive pulse supplied to the solenoid valve consists of a main pulse with a long interval and a sub pulse with a short interval. The small injection required to induce ignition of the fuel is achieved by supplying this sub pulse. Generally, the required quantity for a pilot injection is very small; approximately 3 - 5 mm 3 /st per unit stroke of the plunger. During the restricting process of the fuel supply path, i.e. when the sub pulse restricts the fuel supply path, the solenoid valve is fully lifted (full valve lift), reaching the required quantity before it is seated. To counter this problem, it is designed in such a manner that the supply period of the sub pulse is shortened so that the solenoid valve returns before it is fully lifted. Also, as shown in Figure 1 in this publication, a structure in which a piezo element 47, for example, for opening/ closing the injection nozzle 49 is provided in addition to the solenoid valve 7, a path 85 which communicates with the path 83 for fuel supply is provided in the housing 11 against which the plunger 23 slides and path 87 for fuel escape that communicates between this path 85 and the pressurized region 17 within a specific cam angle range is formed in the plunger 23. However, since the solenoid valve receives the instruction to close and be reset before it is fully lifted, the degree of lift is not stable. Because of this, even though a pilot injection is employed to achieve good injection, the overall result is not good because the injection quantity fluctuates and is not stable. Moreover, with the pilot injection adjusted simply with the momentary lift of the solenoid, as in the prior art, when the rotation of the engine speeds up and the main injection quantity increases, the pilot injection also increases. Since, if the pilot injection is large, there may arise adverse effects such as an increase in smoke and the like, the pilot injection ideally should be small regardless of the rate of rotation of the engine. As for the method in which an electromagnetic valve is driven twice, there is the problem of behavioral instability of the pilot injection and the main injection caused by the response delay of the solenoid valve and the like, resulting in fluctuation of the injection quantity. This problem seems to be solvable by applying the aforementioned technology in which a pilot injection is achieved by opening and closing with a piezo element or the like, to start and stop fuel injection promptly. In fact, however, as the plunger does not have a spin stopper, the phase between the plunger and the injection pump main body is not stable. For instance, as shown in Figures 8 (a)and (b), if the phase between the leak port 52 formed in the injection pump main body 2, and the fuel escape path 43 formed in the plunger 5 changes, the length of the path from the compression space to the leak port and the path resistance also change, resulting in fluctuations in the pilot injection quantity. In this case, if the optimal injection characteristics are achieved in the state as shown in Figure 8(a) and if the phase changes to the state shown in Figure 8 (b), fuel spill worsens due to the increase in the length of the path and the path resistance. In the worst case, as shown with broken lines in Figure 8, the pilot injection and the main injection overlap, and stable injection characteristics cannot be achieved. An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel injection system in which a small quantity injection can be achieved in a stable manner prior to the main injection. Another object of the present invention is to achieve a steady, almost constant small quantity injection, regardless of the rotation rate of the engine. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an injector unit in which stable injection characteristics can be achieved from the pilot injection through the main injection. In accordance with the invention, there is provided a fuel injection system comprising: an injection pump unit having a barrel formed in a injection pump main body, a plunger inserted slidably into said barrel, a compression space defined by said barrel and said plunger, a high pressure path for transferring fuel from said compression space, and a fuel supply path for supplying the fuel flowing from a fuel intake to said compression space, a solenoid valve unit provided on said supply path of said fuel injection pump unit, having a plug valve for adjusting the state of communication between the compression space side and the fuel intake side of said fuel supply path, movement of said plug valve being controlled by an external control signal supplied to a solenoid, and a nozzle unit supplying the fuel from said high pressure path to an engine, characterized in that: a leaking means allowing communication between said compression space and said fuel supply path in correspondence with the lift state of said plunger is provided, and wherein said external control signal supplied to said solenoid comprises a main pulse for making a main injection and a sub pulse for making a small quantity pre-injection prior to said main pulse, and communication between said compression space and said fuel supply path is cut off after said sub pulse and before said main pulse is generated, the arrangement being such that the leaking means is only operative at the end of the pre-injection and prior to the plug valve being seated on a valve seat. Thus the present invention provides a fuel injection pump provided with, as its minimum requirements, a compression space formed within a cylinder in which the plunger is inserted in such a manner that it slides freely; a high pressure path for inducing the fuel from the compression space to the nozzle; a fuel supply path for supplying the fuel that flows in from the fuel intake to the compression space; a solenoid valve located in the middle of the fuel supply path of the fuel injection pump, which has a plug valve for adjusting the state of communication between the compression space side and the fuel intake side in the fuel supply path and which controls the operation of the plug valve with an external control signal supplied to the solenoid; and a leak port that is formed on the side surface of the cylinder, which allows communication between the compression space and the fuel supply path in response to the lift of the plunger. The aforementioned external control signal that is supplied to the solenoid consists of a main pulse that constitutes the main injection and a sub pulse that constitutes a small quantity injection implemented prior to the main pulse. The sub pulse is set longer than the time required for the aforementioned plug valve to be lowered to the valve seat and, therefore, the compression space and fuel supply path communicate before the main injection. In this structure, the fuel coming in from the fuel intake is further induced to the compression space via the solenoid valve, and even during the process of compression feed by the plunger, the fuel is not injected through the nozzle until the fuel supply path is restricted by the solenoid valve. When a sub pulse is generated in that portion of the cam travel range where a small quantity of injection is required, the plug valve of the solenoid valve is lifted to restrict the fuel supply path and consequently, the fuel within the compression space is pressurized and injected through the nozzle. After that, when the sub pulse ends, and the fuel supply path returns to the initial state, this preliminary injection is terminated and a main pulse is generated to restrict the fuel supply path again, but this time to start the main injection. During the preliminary injection stage, which precedes the main injection, since the sub pulse is set longer than the time required for the plug valve to be lowered to the valve seat, the plug valve keeps traveling until it is seated in the valve seat. This means that the necessity to relift the plug valve just before it hits the valve seat is eliminated, thus making it possible to determine the movement of the plug valve uniformly. In this case, you might think that the quantity of preliminary injection would become too large. However, in combination with the movement of the plug valve, the compression space and fuel supply path come into communication via the leak port before the main injection, thereby suppressing any increase in the quantity of preliminary injection. As a result, according to the present invention, by combining the time period during which the fuel inside the compression space is leaked via the leak port and the time period during which the fuel supply path is restricted by moving the plug valve until it is set in the valve seat, the pressurizing and leaking of the fuel inside the compression space are implemented simultaneously or with a specific phase offset, prior to the main injection, resulting in a stable movement of the plug valve and also achieving the optimum small quantity for pre-flow (preliminary injection). For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a cross section showing a schematic structure of one embodiment of a fuel injection system; Figures 2 (a) through (c) are enlarged cross sections of the essential parts of the fuel injection system in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a chart showing the characteristics of plunger lift, drive pulse, valve lift and injection rate of the fuel injection system in Figure 1; Figures 4 (a) and (b) are enlarged cross sections of the essential parts of another embodiment of a fuel injection system; Figures 5 (a) through (c) are enlarged cross sections of the essential parts of yet another embodiment of a fuel injection system; Figure 6 is a chart showing the characteristics of plunger lift, drive pulse, valve lift and injection rate of the fuel injection system in the embodiment shown in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a chart of the prior art system showing the characteristics of plunger lift, drive pulse, valve lift and injection rate; and Figures 8 (a) and (b) are explanatory drawings of the phase change between the leak port formed in the injection pump main body and the fuel escape path formed in the plunger in a prior art system. With reference to the drawings, in Figure 1, the fuel injection system is provided with an injector unit type injection pump unit 1 which injects and supplies fuel into the cylinders of, for example, a diesel engine. This injection pump unit 1 is provided with a barrel 3 at the base of the injection pump main body 2 and the plunger 4, which is inserted in the barrel 3 in such a manner that it slides freely. A spring bearing section 2a is formed on the injection pump main body 2 and the spring 6 is provided between the spring bearing section 2a of the injection pump main body 2 and the tappet 5 that is linked to the plunger 4. The spring 6 constantly applies force in the direction in which the plunger 4 moves further away from the injection pump main body 2 (the direction indicated with arrow A in the figure). The tappet 5 is mounted on the injection pump main body 2 with the connecting pin 8 inserted in it and this connecting pin 8 projects out from the side surface into the guide groove 7 which is formed along the direction of the axis of the plunger 4 in the injection pump main body 2 so that it can make reciprocal movement while maintaining a specific phase in relation to the injection pump main body 2. A cam that is formed on a drive shaft (not shown) is in contact with the tappet 5 and the drive shaft, which is linked to the engine, rotates. The drive shaft and cam work together with the aforementioned spring 6 to cause the reciprocal movement of the plunger 4 within the barrel 3. With this reciprocal movement of the plunger 4, the fuel inside the compression space 9, which is an enclosure formed by the plunger 4 and the injection pump main body 2, is compressed, and, at with the same movement, fuel is drawn into the compression space 9. The holder unit 10 is mounted to the tip of the injection pump main body 2 by the holder nut 11 that is connected to the holder unit 10 around the tip of the injection pump main body 2. The nozzle unit 13 is mounted to the holder unit 10 via the spacer 12. The spacer 12 and nozzle unit 13 are secured by entwining the retainer nut 14 that is connected to these parts around the tip of the holder unit 10. The holder unit 10 is provided with the spring housing 15 and with the nozzle spring 16 housed in the spring housing 15, a needle valve (not shown) in the nozzle unit is pressed in the direction of the tip of the nozzle unit (the direction indicated with arrow B in the figure). The structure of the nozzle unit 13 is of the known art and when fuel at high pressure is supplied through the high pressure path 17, to be explained later, the needle valve is opened in resistance against the nozzle spring 16 and the fuel is injected through an injection hole formed at the tip of the nozzle unit into the engine. The high pressure path 17 consists of the path 18 formed in the injection pump main body 2, one end of which opens into the compression space 9, the path 19 that communicates with the path 18 and is formed in the holder unit 10, the path 20 formed in the spacer 12 that communicates with the path 19 and a path (not shown) formed in the nozzle unit 13 that communicates with the path 20. The valve housing 22 for accommodating the solenoid valve unit 21 to be explained later, is provided extending at the side of the injection pump main body 2 as an integrated unit with the valve housing 22. A fuel supply path 23 is provided in the injection pump main body 2 and the valve housing 22 for supplying the fuel to the compression space 9. This fuel supply path 23 comprises the first supply path 23a, formed at a side of the injection pump main body 2 and through which the fuel from the fuel intake 24 is supplied, the loop basin 23b that is connected to the first supply path 23a and is formed at a part of the barrel 3 against which the plunger 4 makes a constant sliding motion, the second supply path 23c that is connected to the loop basin 23b and communicates with the valve head housing chamber 25 in the solenoid valve unit 21 to be explained later, and the third fuel supply path 23d, one end of which is connected to the circular groove 27 that is formed on the surface of the plug valve 26, the other end of which is connected to the aforementioned compression space 9. Fuel supply to the compression space 9 is controlled by the solenoid valve unit 21 and this solenoid valve unit 21 is provided with the plug valve 26 that is inserted through the sliding hole 28 formed in the valve housing 22 in such a manner that it can slide freely. In the valve housing 22 the valve seat 30 is provided in contact with the valve head 29 that is formed at the tip of the plug valve 26, and the header 31 is secured with a screw to the valve housing 22 in such a manner that it surrounds the valve head 29. At the connecting section of the header 31 and the valve housing 22, a valve head housing chamber 25 is formed by the header 31 and the valve housing 22. The stopper 32 that is secured to the header 31 and faces opposite the valve head 29 is provided in the valve head housing chamber 25. The plug valve 26 passes though the holder 33 which is secured by a screw on the other side of the header 31 in the valve housing 22 and an armature 34 is secured at its tip. The solenoid hosing section 36 is attached by a holder nut 37 on to the holder 33 via the spacer 35 and the aforementioned armature 34 is housed inside the armature chamber 38 which is formed between the holder 33 and the spacer 35 with the armature 34 facing opposite the solenoid 39 housed in the solenoid housing section 36 via the mounting hole in the spacer 35. The spring 40 is housed and held in the holder 33 for applying constant force to the valve head 29 in the direction in which it moves away from the valve seat 30 so that, in the normal state, the valve head 29 is away from the valve seat 30 and when the armature 34 is pulled toward the solenoid 39, with power supplied to the solenoid 39, the valve head 29 is driven in the direction in which it comes in contact with the valve seat 30. Thus, the aforementioned plug valve housing chamber 25 is always supplied and filled with fuel via the first supply path 23a, the loop basin 23b and the second fuel supply path 23c and when the valve head 29 leaves the valve seat 30 during the intake operation of the plunger 4, the fuel filling the plug valve housing chamber 25 travels through the gap between the plug valve 26 and the sliding hole 28 to the circular groove 27. Then it travels from the circular groove 27 through the third fuel supply path 23d to be supplied to the compression space 9. The fuel pressure at this point is approximately 5Kg/cm 2 . In this manner, while power is supplied to the solenoid 39, the valve head 29 sits on the valve seat 30 to cut off the fuel supply path 23 and fuel that has already been supplied to the compression space 9 is compressed during the compression feed process by the plunger 4 and is supplied to the nozzle unit 13 via the high pressure path 17. This compression feed of fuel is terminated when the power supply to the solenoid 39 stops, the valve head 29 leaves the valve seat 30 and part of the high-pressure fuel at the high pressure side (the high pressure path, the compression space, the third fuel supply path) is delivered back to the valve head housing chamber 25 and the fuel pressure in the compression space 9 is reduced. As shown in Figures 2 (a) - (c), the fuel escape path 43 is formed on the side section of the plunger 4 toward the compression space in relation to the loop basin 23b and this escape path 43 is structured with the circular groove 45 formed on the side surface of plunger 4 and a communicating hole, one end of which is connected to the circular groove 45, the other end of which communicates with the compression space 9. Also, the leak port 42 is provided on the side section of the barrel 3, one end of which opens into the first supply path 23a the other end of which opens into the barrel. The relationship between the leak port 42 and the aforementioned circular groove 45 is as described below. Figure 2 (a) shows the plunger at bottom dead center, from which point it travels to the uppermost point in Figure 1. At this point, the leak port 42 is already open to the circular groove 45. When, during the initial stage of the move, the plunger 4 travels downwards in the figure (the direction of the arrow in Figure 2) the position of the leak port 42 that faces the circular groove 45, travels upwards relative to the circular groove 45, and when the plunger 4 reaches the position shown in Figure 2 (b) the circular groove 45 is cut off from the leak port 42 to terminate communication with the leak port 42. The time period starting from at the bottom dead center until the communication between the leak port 42 and circular groove 45 is cut off, is designated as t cut. Following t cut, the plunger is further lifted to reduce the volumetric capacity of the compression space 9 without the leak port 42 and circular groove 45 resuming communication (Figure 2 (c)). In relation to the movement of the plunger 4, wherein the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 maintain the relationship described above, the power supply to the aforementioned solenoid 39 is controlled by the control unit 48 shown in Figure 1. This control unit 48 consists of an A/D converter, a multiplexer, a microcomputer and a drive circuit, etc., not shown in the figure. Various signals from units such as an accelerator operation detection unit that detects the amount of travel on the accelerator pedal (throttle opening), the rotation detection unit that detects the rotation rate of the engine, a reference pulse generating unit that is mounted to the drive shaft and which generates a pulse every time the drive shaft passes a reference angle position and the like, are input to the control unit 48, which outputs the drive pulse shown in Figure 3. This drive pulse is supplied to the solenoid 39 in the solenoid valve unit 21 and it contains a sub pulse for performing a small quantity injection (or pilot injection) over a short interval of t1 - t2 during the initial stage of the lift prior to the main pulse for performing the main injection over the interval t3 - t4 when the plunger 4 is lifted from bottom dead center (t = 0). The pulse width (t2 - t1)of this sub pulse is longer than the time period starting when the plug valve 26 which is fully open moves against the spring 40 until the time when it is seated on the valve seat 30. Also, the interval between the sub pulse and the main pulse is longer than the time elapsing between the time when the plug valve 26 is seated and the time when it returns to its initial full open state. The aforementioned t cut is set to occur after the valve is open again following the generation of the sub pulse and before t3 when the main pulse in generated. In the structure described above, assume that the plunger 4 is currently at the bottom dead center position. At this point, the plunger starts to lift and at t1, when the sub pulse is supplied to the solenoid 39, the armature 34 is pulled toward the solenoid 39 by electromagnetic force and the valve head 29 starts to move toward the valve seat 30. Shortly after this, following t1, the valve head 29 is seated on the valve seat 30. This seated state lasts until t2. Then after t2, as the electromagnetic force is no longer present, the valve head 29 is separated from the valve seat 30 at a speed determined by the force of the spring 40. During this process, as the fuel supply path 23 is restricted by the solenoid valve unit 21, the fuel inside the compression space 9 is compressed by the plunger 4 and injected before the plug valve 26 is fully opened. Since this pre-flow is only for inducing the ignition of the main injection, a very small quantity is required and, therefore, if lifting lasts until the plug valve 26 is seated, the injection quantity would ordinarily exceed the required amount. However, since during this pre-flow interval the leak port 42 and circular groove 45 are in communication and consequently part of the fuel inside the compression space is returned to the fuel supply path 23 via the communicating hole 46, the circular groove 45 and the leak port 42, the amount of fuel injected from the nozzle does not increase. On the contrary, as shown in Figure 3, it achieves a small injection rate. The diameter of the leak port 42 is predetermined to achieve such an optimal pre-flow at a small quantity. Moreover, as the plug valve 26 is seated on the valve seat 30 at some point, the movement of the plug valve 26 can be determined uniformly to eliminate fluctuation in the injection rate. In addition, although the pulse width of the drive pulse is set longer than what is necessary for the plug valve 26 to be seated, injection is performed over a longer interval than in the known art, with the leak port 42 present, injection rate characteristics that show a gentle upwards overall profile can be achieved to induce the ignition of the main injection smoothly. When the pre-flow ends and the operation is at t cut, communication between the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 is cut off. After this, there is no more leak function in effect for the fuel and a main injection similar to that in the known art is performed. In other words, following t3, when the drive pulse is generated, the plug valve 26 is seated on the valve seat 30 again and the fuel inside the compression space is injected through the nozzle due to the compression from the plunger 4 without any leakage. Thus, the injection rate is increased and this state is maintained until t4, at which point, the plug valve 26 leaves the valve seat 30. It should be noted that in the structure described above, the circular groove 45 in the plunger 4 and the leak port 42 always faces the side surface of the plunger 4. As shown in Figure 4, however, it is possible to achieve similar advantages with a structure in which the leak port 42 is formed so that it faces the compression space 9 during the initial stage of the plunger lift (Figure 4 (a)) and the leak port 42 is closed off by the tip of the plunger 4 at t cut (Figure 4 (b)). Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Since its basic structure is similar to that of the first embodiment, its explanation is omitted. The relationship between the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 of the fuel escape path 43 is described below. In the state in which the plunger 4 is at bottom dead center, the leak port 42 is facing the side wall of the plunger 4 toward the tip in relation to the circular groove 45 and the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 are not in communication (Figure 5 (a)). When the plunger 4 travels downward in the figure (in the direction of the arrow) from this state, the leak port 42 travels upward relative to the circular groove 45 during the initial stage of the move and the circular groove 45 communicates with the leak port 42 when the plunger 4 reaches the position shown in Figure 5 (b). When the plunger travels further to reach the position shown in Figure 5 (c) the circular groove 45 is cut off from the leak port 42 cutting off communication with the leak port 42. The time starting from bottom dead center until the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 come into communication with each other is designated as t open. And the time up to the point when communication between the leak port 42 and circular groove 45 is cut off is designated t cut. Following t cut, the plunger is further lifted to reduce the volumetric capacity of the compression space 9 without the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 resuming communication. In relation to the movement of the plunger 4, wherein the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 maintain the relationship described above, the power supply to the aforementioned solenoid 39 is performed as shown in Figure 6. In summary, the drive pulse that is supplied to the solenoid 39 contains a sub pulse for performing a small quantity injection (or pilot injection) over a short interval of t1 - t2 during the initial stage of lift prior to the main pulse for performing the main injection over the interval t3 - t4 when the plunger 4 is lifted from the bottom dead center (t = 0). The pulse width of this sub pulse is longer than the time period starting when the plug valve 26, which is fully open, moves against the force of the spring 40 until the time when it is seated on the valve seat 30. Also, the interval between the sub pulse and the main pulse is longer than the elapsed time between the state in which the plug valve 26 is seated and the time when it returns to its initial open state. The aforementioned t open is set so that it will occur after the sub pulse is generated and, in this embodiment, the plug valve is seated on the valve seat. In actuality, it is set at a point appropriate to inhibit an excessive increase of pre-flow. This means that it is not necessarily imperative to set it in accordance with the end timing of the sub pulse or the timing with which the plug valve is seated. Rather, it should be determined by experiment, taking into consideration the leaking state of the fuel and the like. The aforementioned t cut is set to occur before t3 when the main pulse is generated. In the structure described above, assume that the plunger 4 is currently at the bottom dead center position. At this point, the plunger starts to lift and at t1, when the sub pulse is supplied to the solenoid 39, the armature 34 is pulled toward the stator by electromagnetic force and the valve head 29 starts to move toward the valve seat 30. Shortly after this, following t1, the valve head 29 is seated on the valve seat 30. This seated state lasts until t2. Then, after t2, since the electromagnetic force is no longer present, the valve head 29 is separated from the valve seat 30 at a speed determined by the force of the spring 40. During this process, as the fuel supply path 23 is restricted by the solenoid valve unit 21, the fuel inside the compression space 9 is compressed by the plunger 4 and injected before the plug valve 26 is fully opened. However, during this pre-flow period, before the pre-flow becomes excessive, the leak port 42 comes into communication with the circular groove 45 to allow a portion of the fuel in the compression space 9 to be returned to the fuel supply path 23 via the communicating hole 46, the circular groove 45 and the leak port 42. As a result, the fuel injected through the nozzle does not increase and the small injection rate can be achieved as shown in Figure 6, regardless of the rotation rate of the engine. In this embodiment too, the plug valve 26 is moved until it is seated on the valve seat 30. Therefore, the movement of the plug valve can be determined uniformly, eliminating fluctuation in the injection rate. When the pre-flow ends and the operation is at t cut, communication between the leak port 42 and the circular groove 45 is cut off. After this, there is no more leak function in effect for the fuel and a main injection similar to that in the known art is performed. In other words, following t3, when the drive pulse is generated, the plug valve 26 is seated on the valve seat 30 again and the fuel inside the compression space 9 is injected through the nozzle due to the compression from the plunger 4 without any leakage. Thus, the injection rate is increased and this state is maintained until t4, at which point, the plug valve 26 leaves the valve seat 30.

Claims: A fuel injection system comprising: an injection pump unit (1) having a barrel (3) formed in an injection pump main body (2), a plunger (4) inserted slidably into said barrel (3), a compression space defined by said barrel (3) and said plunger (4), a high pressure path (17) for transferring fuel from said compression space (9), and a fuel supply path (23) for supplying the fuel flowing from a fuel intake (24) to said compression space (9); a solenoid valve unit (21) provided on said supply path (23) of said fuel injection pump unit (1), having a plug valve (26) for adjusting the state of communication between the compression space side and the fuel intake side of said fuel supply path (23), movement of said plug valve (26) being controlled by an external control signal supplied to a solenoid (39); and a nozzle unit (13) supplying the fuel from said high pressure path (17) to an engine, characterized in that: a leaking means allowing communication between said compression space (9) and said fuel supply path (23) in correspondence with the lift state of said plunger (4) is provided, and wherein said external control signal supplied to said solenoid (39) comprises a main pulse for making a main injection and a sub pulse for making a small quantity pre-injection prior to said main pulse, and communication between said compression space (9) and said fuel supply path (23) is cut off after said sub pulse and before said main pulse is generated, the arrangement being such that the leaking means is only operative at the end of the pre-injection and prior to the plug valve (26) being seated on a valve seat (30). A fuel injection system according to Claim 1, wherein: said leaking means comprises a leak port (42), said leak port having one end opening in said fuel supply path (23) and the other end opening in said barrel (3). A fuel injection system according to Claim 2, wherein: said leaking means comprises a leak port (42) formed in said injection pump main body (2) and a fuel escape path (43) formed in said plunger (4), said fuel escape path (43) having one end opening in side of said plunger (4) and the other end opening in said compression space (9). A fuel injection system according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein: said compression space (9) and said fuel supply path (23) are in communication from a time point when said plunger (4) is at bottom dead center. A fuel injection system according to Claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein: said compression space (9) and said fuel supply path (23) are in communication after said plug valve (26) is-seated on a valve seat (30). A fuel injection system according to any preceding claim, wherein: the said plug valve (26) cuts off said fuel supply path (23) when electric power is supplied to said solenoid (39), and allows communication with said fuel supply path (23) when said electric power supply is turned off. A fuel injection system according to Claim 6, wherein: said plug valve (26) is inserted in a valve housing (22) united to said injection pump main body (2) to be connected with an armature (34) and has a valve head (29) at one end thereof, said valve head (29) is located in a valve head housing chamber (25) defined by said valve housing (22) and a header (31), a circular groove (26) is formed around said plug valve (26), said fuel intake side of said fuel supply path (23) communicates with said valve head housing chamber (25) and said compression space side of said fuel supply path (23) communicates with said circular groove (26), a valve seat (30) formed in said valve housing (22) is provided between said valve head housing chamber (25) and said circular groove (27), and said plug valve (26) is urged by a spring (40) in a direction away from said valve seat (30). A fuel injection system according to any preceding claim, wherein: the time from said sub pulse to said main pulse is set longer than the time from the state in which said plug valve (26) is seated on said valve seat (30) until a full open state of said plug valve (26).

Inventors: ISHIWATA HIROSHI, OHI NAOTAKE, OHISHI TAKASHI, UEDA ATSUSHI, ISHIWATA, HIROSHI, OHI, NAOTAKE, OHISHI, TAKASHI, UEDA, ATSUSHI, ISHIWATA, HIROSHI, C/O ZEXEL CORP., OHI, NAOTAKE, C/O ZEXEL CORP., OHISHI, TAKASHI, C/O ZEXEL CORP., UEDA, ATSUSHI, C/O ZEXEL CORP.
Applicants: ZEXEL CORP, ZEXEL CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: F02D41
IPC codes: F02D41, F02M57, F02M59, F02M45, F02B3